Continuation of eye integration study:
Reflection Integration
One of my favorite things about the recent Star Wars movies is the attention to eye reflections for stronger integration of effects - bright effects would reflect in eyes and curve along the eye’s surface:
Something that I learned after another viewing of The Last Jedi was the integration of the beam from the blaster in Holdo’s eye. It isn’t something that I would automatically expect to be there. It adds an extra 1% of integration.
Eyeline Integration
The last concept is for integrating CGI is eye lines. This seems very simple, but I didn’t know how crucial eyelines were to a shot until I learned their importance at ILM. Realistic modeling, texturing, animation, lighting, and comp can’t save a shot if the real character’s eyeline to the CGI is not spot on. This is especially true when the CGI in focus moves in the scene.
A real example from La La Land for a correct, moving eye line
I had so much fun digging deeper into eye integration and the reading that came along with it. A fun read was learning about pupils in nature and how their shape is related to the animal’s food chain status and height off the ground: